BTB #252: Just My Type

Typefaces, like superheroes, all have origin stories. From Garamond to Georgia, Palatino to Proforma, the look of letters tracks back in time to a single fascinating moment of origination. Joining CCC’s Chris Kenneally to go beyond the book – diving down to the level of individual letters – is Simon Garfield, the author of “Just My Type,” out recently in the US from Gotham Books and currently on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

Not surprisingly for a volume subtitled, “A book about fonts,” reviews typically begin along these lines: “Who knew typefaces could be so interesting and so much fun?” Simon Garfield admits response from friends was much the same when he began the project several years ago.

“I had two reactions. ‘Are you mad? Do you really want to spend a couple of years on that?’ And the other was, ‘Great! I love fonts! I can’t wait!’ So absolutely more than anything else I’ve ever written, [the subject] split people. All the fonts, from Arial to Baskerville to Helvetica to Sans Serif. they do all have an interesting tale. These things don’t fall from the ether, they are put together with a huge amount of thought by very skilled people.”